Genii- That's Genius, Plural
by Ophelia Lokisdottir
Summary: If Tony Stark had had a sister, would Iron Man have happened any differently? Would there be an Iron Maiden in the skies above New York as well? One can only imagine... (Not a sibling-discovery fic, shes been there her entire life.) Rated T for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! If you've been following me for a while, welcome back to a new story! If you haven't, welcome to my story! I hope you enjoy it, and if you like my work, you could go and look at my other fics! I have an Avengers multi-story universe featuring an OC that I'm currently on the third story of. So, without further ado, here is Genii- That's Genius, Plural!  
**

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_"Visionary. Genius. American patriot."_ Fiona turned to Obadiah who sat next to her and gave him a "really?" look. He grinned.

"What can I say? The public loves that sort of stuff." The narration continued. "_Even from an early age, the children of legendary weapons developer Howard Stark stole the spotlight with their brilliant minds. At age four, Tony built his first circuit board. At age six, Fiona built her first engine_." Fiona had to grin at the pictures of her sitting proudly next to the engine, round face smudged with grease and oil, older brother looking on like their father had done in his photos. "_When each was 17, they graduated summa cum laude from MIT. Then, barely a year after his second child was born, the passing of a titan._" Fiona didn't really remember her parents, but she still felt remorseful whenever one of their names was mentioned. "_Howard Stark's lifelong friend and ally, Obadiah Stane, steps in to fill the gap left by the legendary founder, until, at age 21, the prodigal son returns and takes the reins of Stark Industries."_ The final picture, a _Time_ magazine cover featuring Tony standing looking dramatically off above the camera while Obadiah looked on, floated across the screen. "_With the keys to the kingdom, Tony ushers in a new era for his father's legacy, creating smarter weapons, advanced robotics, satellite targeting. Today, joined by his sister, Tony Stark has changed the face of the weapons industry by ensuring freedom and protecting America and her interests around the globe._" The lights came up and the crowd applauded. Fiona joined them as Tony's military friend Rhodey came on stage holding a small trophy. He stood behind a podium in the center of the stage.

"As liaison to Stark Industries, I've head the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot and a great humanitarian. They are my friends and mentors. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present the Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark. Tony?" A spotlight landed on their table. Obadiah nudged Fiona under the table. Fiona stood up, adjusting the strap of her red dress as she walked up to the stage. Rhodey raised his eyebrows and she shook her head slightly with a roll of her eyes

"Thank you, Colonel," she said as she climbed the three stairs and joined Rhodey at the podium. He handed her the award and left the stage. She smiled out at the crowd.

"Uh, thank you, everyone. This really means a lot, and I know my brother would say the same if he were here tonight. Unfortunately, a, uh, pressing matter came up within the company and Tony stayed behind to take care of the matters. But on behalf of Tony, I once again thank you for honoring him with this award." She bowed her head slightly as the crowd applauded.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Fiona made her way through the casino, scanning the tables and machines for her brother. Rhodey, walking next to her, touched her arm and pointed to a gambling table where Tony was rolling a pair of dice. Fiona stalked over to him. "Can you show up to a press event for once, please?"

"Hey! How goes it, sister dear?"

"You are unbelievable, Tony! This is the fifth time in the last three months you've blown off an event like this. People aren't going to buy the 'company trouble' story for much longer." Tony waved a hand.

"Yeah, they will. They'll believe what you say, you're the humanitarian in our little billion-dollar duo and the public loves you." Tony wasn't wrong- while they had both dived into the weapons part of Stark Industries with huge interest, when she had begun working there Fiona had also begun humanitarian work alongside it. Tony reached for his pile of won chips and held up a fist with dice in it to the attractive lady on his right. "Give me a hand, will you? Give me a little something-something." The lady blew gently on his fist, and Tony moved it over in front of Rhodey's face. "Okay, you too." Rhodey scowled.

"I don't blow on a man's dice," he growled, and knocked Tony's hand away, sending the dice flying and bouncing across the table.

"There it is!" Tony called. "Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes rolls. And...two craps. Line away." The pile of chips was taken away.

"Darn, what a shame," said Fiona, taking Tony's arm and leading him away from the table. Rhodey stopped and nodded to a door.

"This is where I exit," he said with a sigh.

"All right," said Tony, not really paying attention.

"Tomorrow!" said Rhodey. "Don't be late."

"Yeah, you can count on it," called Tony as he began waking away from the group.

"I'll make sure he's there," Fiona said, giving Rhodey a quick hug before following her brother through the crowd. She caught up with him as he was exiting the building, their pair of bodyguards closing behind them and following them as they walked through the parking lot. "Mr. Stark! Excuse me, Mr. Stark!" The bodyguards stopped her as she flashed a smile at Fiona. "Christine Everhart, _Vanity Fair._ Can I ask you a couple of questions?" Tony didn't turn around, looking instead at Happy, their driver, as he inspected the woman.

"She's cute," muttered Happy. Tony swung around to look at Everhart.

"Okay, let's go," he said.

"You've been called the Da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?"

"Absolutely ridiculous, I don't paint," replied Tony. Fiona rolled her eyes.

"And what do you say to your other nickname? 'The Merchant of Death?'" Everhart was not smiling any more. Tony smirked.

"That's not bad. Let me guess, Berkeley?"

"Brown, actually," she corrected dryly.

"Well, Ms. Brown, it's an imperfect world, but it's the only one we've got. I guarantee you, the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace, and I'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals," said Tony.

"Rehearse that much?"

"Every night in front of a mirror before bedtime."

"He actually does, I can hear him," muttered Fiona.

"I'd can see that," said Everhart.

"I'd like to show you firsthand," replied Tony smoothly.

"All I want is a serious answer," Everhart replied, holding up her microphone.

"Okay, here's serious. My old man had a philosophy, 'Peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy'."

"That's a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks."

"My father helped defeat the Nazis. He worked on the Manhattan Project. A lot of people, including your professors at Brown would call that being a hero."

"And a lot of people would also call that war profiteering." Fiona both hated and somewhat looked forward to watching someone interview her brother. Listening to a reporter's sharp tongue and her brother's cocky attitude could prove quite entertaining.

"Tell me, do you plan to report on the millions we've saved by advancing medical technology, or kept from starvation with our intelli-crops? All those breakthroughs, military funding, honey," Tony pointed out.

"You ever lose an hour of sleep your whole life?" Everhart asked.

"I'd be prepared to lose a few with you."

"Oh, here we go again," muttered Fiona.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The next morning, Fiona went for a run along the beachfront near their Malibu mansion. Some people might find it odd that now that she was eighteen, she hadn't moved out, but the two shared a bond that had formed the moment their parents had died. When the news had come in, Tony was 17 and Fiona was barely a year old. Obadiah had assumed custody of the two until Tony turned eighteen, at which point the two had moved back into the Malibu cliffside mansion and Tony became Fiona's guardian. He spent hours on end playing with her, showing her how the machines in his shop worked and by the time she was six, she could build an engine unassisted. There were times when the siblings couldn't stand each other, but they were extraordinarily close to each other. They wouldn't admit it to anyone, but they both wanted to know that the other was all right every day, thus sharing a house.

Fiona got back in time to hear the voice of Christine Everhart.

"You must be the famous Pepper Potts."

"Indeed I am," replied Pepper's voice. Fiona peered around a corner to find the two women standing in the living room. Pepper was dressed nicely in a business suit, and Everhart wore an oversized t-shirt. Pepper held a dry-cleaning bag. Everhart shook her head slightly.

"After all these years, Tony still has you picking up the dry cleaning."_ Ooh, you shouldn't have gone there, Miss Reporter._..

"I do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires, including occasionally taking out the trash. Will that be all?" Pepper replied smartly, the frosty smile on her face a clear indication that she knew where the victory of the spat lay. She held out the suit bag, and, a furious red blush creeping up her cheeks, Everhart snatched it and stalked away. Fiona stepped out of the hallway.

"Very nice. Is that how all the one-night stands are shown off the premises?" Pepper blushed slightly.

"Well, she was rather dignified about the whole thing. Most of them aren't as...presentable as she managed to be." Fiona snickered as she began walking to the hallway that led to her room, then paused as she remembered something.

"Hey, I've got something for you." She dashed off to her room and returned with a small present. "Happy birthday!" she said with a grin. Pepper took the gift and opened it. She pulled out a blue stone on a gold chain.

"Fiona, it's gorgeous! How'd you know that blue's my favorite color?"

"Well, every year when Tony doesn't remember it's your birthday and you buy yourself something from him, it's blue. So...yeah. Blue necklace." Pepper smiled. It seemed a little sad, in Fiona's opinion, but Pepper fastened the necklace around her neck.

"Thanks, Fiona. You keep me sane working with your brother." Fiona nodded and started back down the hallway.

"See you later," she called back to Pepper. She took a quick shower. As she toweled off her hair, her phone rang.

"What's up, Obie? Tony hasn't left yet, but he should be on his way soon. He's due at the airfield in a few hours."

_"I was thinking, Fiona, I want you to go with Tony for the weapons demo. It's an important business opportunity and I think it'd be nice if you could go and uphold the humanitarian side of the company, you know, maybe visit a school there or something. Is that okay? I mean, if you don't want to, that's fine, but-_"

"No, no, I'll go. You're right, as you usually are about the company. It would be better for both of us to be there. I'll pack some stuff quick."

"_Fi, you're great. I only wish Tony was as good at getting to engagements as you are_." Fiona laughed.

"All right, talk to you later, Obie." She hung up and went to get her suitcase out of the closet.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

More than a few hours later, Fiona and Tony were driving along the highway with Happy following behind. Fiona, in spite of being angry about Tony's tardiness, was enjoying the ride through the quiet desert.

Rhodey was waiting for them at the top of the jet's steps. He did not look happy.

"Three hours? Really, Tony?"

"Got caught doing a piece for _Vanity Fair,_" Tony said offhandedly as he walked past Rhodey into the plane. Rhodey raised an eyebrow at Fiona, who shook her head and followed Tony, Rhodey following her, after which the plane took off. What followed was an uncomfortable flight which included Rhodey getting drunk and the flight attendants dancing around a stripper pole- which they had in the plane why, exactly? Fiona stuck her earbuds in her ears to drown out the party music and eventually fell asleep.

Fiona was woken up by the plane's descent. The view out the window was vastly different than she was used to- a landscape of desert dotted with mountains. They were coming in to an army base air strip. It was small, and Fiona could make out some people standing and watching the plane as it came in. When the plane landed and the doors opened, the heat hit her like a slap in the face. As Fiona rolled up the sleeves of her blouse, an imposing man came over to greet them.

"General," said Tony.

"Welcome, Mr. Stark, Miss Stark. We look forward to the weapons presentation."

"Thank you,"replied Tony. True to Obadiah's suggestion, while her brother demo'ed the missile, Fiona would be visiting a village nearby. The plane carried Stark Indutries advanced building materials to help fix the dilapidated buildings and Fiona would assist in the construction. After conferring with some soldiers, the siblings parted ways for the day, each off to perform in their element.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Despite the heat, Fiona was having a very good time. The people in the village were kinder than any New Yorker she'd ever met and could not stop gushing gratitude. She was currently working at the school, laying a new floor. More as a moment of silliness than anything, she pushed her open hand slightly into the drying cement, leaving a handprint. The little girl next to her considered it a moment, then copied her, leaving a much smaller print next to Fiona's. The girl ran and took something from a cubby, returning to reveal a stylus. She screwed up her face in concentration, carving out curving lines, moving from left to right. When she finished, she looked proudly up at Fiona.

"Your name?" Fiona asked, hoping the little girl would understand. The girl nodded.

"Delaram," she said, pointing to the Arabic script. Then she held out the stylus to Fiona. "Now you." Fiona took the stylus and wrote her name next to her hand. By now many of the children had noticed what they were doing and had begun mimicking them, creating handprints and writing their names next to them. The teacher, a young woman who couldn't be that much older than Fiona, gave her a huge smile.

When the Hum-vee came to get her later in the day, she almost didn't leave. The villagers gathered to say goodbye, and she hugged each one of them. Tony was waiting inside.

"I take it your day went well?" he asked. Fiona nodded.

"How 'bout you? Have fun making explosions?"

"Hey, it was a legitimate demons-"

"I was _kidding_, brother mine." Their bantering seemed to put the soldiers at ease. They had been stoic and silent, but began to chuckle at the siblings' words. Tony started slightly, looking at the driver.

"Good god, you're a woman. I honestly...I couldn't have called that. I mean, I'd apologize, but isn't that what we're going for here? I thought of you as a soldier first."

"I'm an airman, sir," the female soldier replied.

"You actually have excellent bone structure there. I'm kind of having a hard time not looking at you now. Is that weird?"

"She's not going to sleep with you, Tony," said Fiona. Any remaining tension in the vehicle dissolved as the soldiers began to laugh.

"Sir, I have a question to ask," said the soldier in the passenger seat.

"Yes please," said Tony.

"Is it true you went 12 for 12 with last year's Maxim cover models?"

"As if I didn't already have an irritating time of the month," muttered Fiona.

"Uh, yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately the Christmas cover was twins."

"Yeah, that was fun to wake up to in the middle of the night." Tony smacked Fiona lightly on the shoulder. She smirked at him. The young man to the left of Fiona raised his hand.

"You're kidding me with the hand up, right?" said Tony. The boy put his hand down.

"Is it cool if I take a picture with you?"

"Absolutely, go ahead," Fiona interjected before her brother could get a word in. The young soldier handed a small camera up to the soldier in the passenger seat.

"All right, I don't want to see this on your MySpace page," Tony joked. The boy held up two fingers in a peace sign and Fiona did the same. The man in the passenger seat was fumbling with the buttons.

"Just click it! Don't change any settings!" urged the young man.

Without warning, an explosion rocked the jeep. Fiona let out a scream.

"What's going on?!" yelled Tony.

"Contact left!" the female driver shouted. She kicked open the door and grabbed a gun, but she barely made it out the door before crying out and collapsing to the ground.

"Jimmy, stay with the Starks!" The passenger soldier yelled, before also kicking open his door. He made it around to the front of the car before a second explosion shuddered the surroundings, sending a blood splatter across the windshield. Fiona let out an involuntary whimper.

"Son of a bitch!" Jimmy cursed. He loaded a gun and kicked open the door. "Stay here!" he yelled forcefully before exiting the car, only to scream as a hail of bullet holes punctured the door. Fiona pressed herself into the seat. She felt frantic movement beside her and turned to see her brother scrambling out of the car.

"Tony! No!" she screamed, trying to grab his arm and missing. She tumbled out of the car after him. She saw him duck behind a rock, reach for something in his pocket and saw the blue and the small wave of dust as something hit the ground next to him. The sand settled. A familiar logo was splashed across a small missile. The world seemed to slow down. Fiona wasn't going to reach him in time and someone was screaming his name and then the world was bright and violent and painful. And then she knew nothing but her brother lying next to her as unconsciousness took her into its soft embrace.

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**What did you think of chapter one? If you liked it, perhaps you could help me keep it going. I want to give Fiona an injury that she turns into an ability, like the Arc reactor, but I obviously don't want to give her that same thing Tony has. So if you've got any ideas, leave them in a review! If I like it, I'll use it and give you a shoutout at the beginning of the next chapter! **

**Thanks for reading,**

**~Ophelia**


	2. Chapter 2

******Hi guys! I'm pleased that there has already been such a positive response to this story! Enjoy the chapter!**

******And who's excited for the premier of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D? I am...**

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When Fiona was dragged from unconsciousness by the waves of pain, the first thing she noticed was the lack of a person next to her. She rolled over onto her side, her entire body screaming in protest. Frantically, she scanned the area, hoping for a sign of her brother.

But she was alone. She was stranded in the middle of the Afghan desert. Judging by the position of the sun, she been unconscious for at least three hours, likely more. She sat up, sending white-hot knives of pain stabbing along her leg.

And she was hurt, too. Of course she was hurt. She inhaled slowly through her nose, waiting for the pain to subside enough for her to function. Once she was able to think properly, she inspected her leg. Several spots on her right leg looked like they had been bleeding earlier and now were inflamed and oozy. Fighting the urge to throw up, she shrugged off what was left of her jacket, wrapping it around her leg and tying the sleeves in a knot, wrapping her hands around as much of her leg as possible. She didnt want to think about what injuries Tony must have sustained.

Injuries temporarily taken care of, she turned her attention to contacting someone. Her first thought was her phone, but something must have happened to it in the explosion because she had no signal (which never happened on the StarkPhone Tony had invented) and when she held it to her ear there was a weird buzzing noise. She looked around once more, taking careful notice of her surroundings this time. There were a few low mountains, a lot of sand, and the army jeep. There were the dead soldiers as well, but Fiona wasn't that desperate for company just yet.

The soldiers! They had radios! Fiona could have kicked herself. Slowly, she began to pull herself over to the nearest body, letting out involuntary cries as her leg was jarred with each movement. Finally, after four agonizing minutes, she made it to the body of the man who had been in the passenger seat. She found the radio in his belt and held the button on the side.

"H-hello?" she coughed. "Can anyone hear me?" She released the button. There was a hiss of static for a second or two, then, "I read you, who is this?"

"It's Fiona Stark. I-I need help. There was an explosion, and someone was shooting at us, and the soldiers in our car are dead, and-" she paused, trying to compose herself, "Tony's missing." There was silence on the other end for a moment, then a familiar voice.

"Fiona? It's Rhodey, are you all right? Where are you?"

"I-um-I don't know... My leg is pretty bashed up, but it's not life-threatening." _Yet_, she thought.

"Okay, Fiona, listen. There's a GPS transmitter on the dash of the humvee. It can send your location to us, can you get to it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I think so," said Fiona

"All right. Hurry, and contact us if anything happens. Over and out." Fiona tucked the radio into her pocket and began the journey to the car. She had to stop multiple times, taking almost half an hour to get to the car. She pulled herself up onto the seat, breathing deeply as she sat and let her leg hang out of the open door. She found the small GPS box and searched the display for the correct function. Her fingers were tingling as she touched the on-screen option and she was beginning to feel nauseous, worrying her that dehydration was beginning to set in. She lay across the front seats, suddenly exhausted. She could feel unconsciousness tugging at her brain, and she was so tempted to give in...

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Come on, stand up! Stand up! Just do as I do," hissed the man next to Tony. Toy struggled to hold onto the car battery as he stood next to the man and raised his hands. The door opened and several men came into the room brandishing weapons.

"Those are my guns. How did they get my guns?" Tony mumbled. The man at his side gave him a sharp glare.

"Do you understand me? Do as I do!" A large man sporting a thick black beard walked in, speaking in a Middle Eastern dialect. When he finished, he looked expectantly at the man next to Tony.

"He says, '_Welcome, Tony Stark, the most famous mass murderer in the history of America_,'" the man translated quietly. "He is honored. He wants you to build the missile." The bearded man scowled, saying something else. "The Jericho missile that you demonstrated. This one." He passed a photo to Tony, showing the Jericho. Tony looked at it for a moment before looking up at the bearded man.

"Where is my sister?" he asked quietly. The man on his left spoke quickly to the bearded man, then began repeating his reply.

"He says...she was unnecessary to the plan. She was left in the desert." Tony's gaze hardened.

"I refuse," he said defiantly. A mistake, as it turned out.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Fiona? Can you hear me?" Fiona's eyelids fluttered a few times before she managed to open them fully. She was no longer in the army truck; instead, she was lying on some sort of bed and looking up at a white ceiling. She could hear a quiet, steady beep somewhere. She turned her head slightly to the side and saw Rhodey standing at the side of the bed. "Glad to see you awake," he said. Fiona tried to say something but just ended up coughing because of the dryness of her throat. Rhodey helped her sit up a bit and then held a glass to her lips. She relished the wonderful feeling of the cool water in her throat. She cleared her throat one more time and tried again.

"Wh...what happened after I called you?"

"We got your signal and went to pick you up. You were in pretty bad shape when we found you, dehydrated and your leg was damaged in the explosion. You're at the base hospital." Fiona felt odd. Something didn't feel right. Then...

"Rhodey, I can't feel my legs." The beep that she had heard was increasing in tempo. Rhodey raised his hand in a calming gesture.

"They didn't have to amputate, if that's what you're worried about. But your leg did have several pieces of shrapnel in it. They had to do surgery to take them out. It's just the anesthetic."

"There's something you're not telling me, isn't there." Fiona could tell. She was an expert at reading body language, even a soldier had signs.

"Well-"

"Please don't sugarcoat it, Rhodey. Just tell me. Please."

"There was a piece of shrapnel in your knee and it tore through a nerve and your ACL. The physicians say that you might not get full functionality back." Fiona didnt say anything. "They said you'll probably need a brace to walk for some time." Fiona closed her eyes.

"Okay. That's okay. Rhodey...did you find Tony?" She thought she already knew the answer.

"Fiona...I'm sorry, there was no sign of him where you were." Fiona felt the prickling behind her eyes as she tried to hold back tears but it was no use. They burst from her in a flood and she sobbed. She felt Rhodey wrap his arms around her and she did the same.

"We're not giving up, Fiona. We've got people out looking for him and were not stopping until we find him." Fiona nodded and sniffed.

"Sorry I got your uniform all gross," she mumbled. Rhodey chuckled.

"It's fine," he said. A young man poked his head into the room.

"Colonel? You've got a call, sir," he said. Rhodey stood up.

"I'm sorry, Fiona, I've got to go," he said.

"That's okay," replied Fiona. "I'm all right. Go ahead." Rhodey gave her one last quick hug before leaving the room. Fiona watched him go, suddendly tired. She lay back and stared at the ceiling, and soon was asleep.

She left a few days later, getting on a plane back to Malibu. They touched down at an out-of-the-way airport, using a regular plane to avoid attention. Pepper was waiting for them on the Tarmac. Fiona limped down the steps, still getting used to the knee brace that she had to wear. She stumbled on the last step but Pepper was there waiting for her and caught her, pulling her into a hug as she did so.

"Fiona, Rhodey called and explained everything, are you okay?" Fiona nodded.

"Yeah. I'm fine." The two young women didnt say anything for a moment, then Fiona whispered, "I'm going to find him, Pepper. He's not dead, I just know it. I'm going to find him and bring him home."

"I know you will. If anyone can find him, you can."

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**I hope you guys enjoyed chapter 2, and if you have any requests story plot points in the story I will do my best to include! As always, please review and I'll see you next chapter (or maybe the other story I'm working on)!**

**~Ophelia**


	3. Chapter 3

**Guys...I cannot tell you how pleased I am at the response I have gotten! So many faves and follows! Ehehehe...it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.**

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Fiona plopped down in front of the computer bank in the lab with a sigh, glad to have the weight off her leg. She unbuckled the brace and dropped it on the floor.

"First things first," she mumbled, logging into the satellite image site Tony had created, typing in the coordinates Rhodey had given her- the ones that she had transmitted from the jeep. The live video feed that popped up was empty of life. She manipulated the image, scanning miles in every direction but there was no sign of anything that could help her find her brother. There was no sign of anything in general, just miles of sand and mountains and scrubby bushes.

She searched for hours the first day home. No luck whatsoever. Finally, she convinced herself to take a break and begin planning the other pressing project- her leg. The current brace was bulky, cumbersome and irritating. She opened up a new project file and began calling up images of human leg joints and the nerve systems inside.

She spent almost all of that first month at the computer searching or at the work station building her new project. It was a new brace made, much smaller and less cumbersome than the one the doctors had given her. It was two bands made of a gold-titanium alloy that wrapped above and below her knee. A smaller hinged band reached up between the bands and sat on the injured joint, a tiny circle smaller than a dime sat on her skin above the injured nerves. The circle, powered by the kinetics of her body, sent tiny electrical impulses running through her knee, hitting the nerves and helping them function more normally. It certainly didn't give her full functionality, but it eased the pain that was there if she put weight on it unbraced and was less bulky than the one she had been given, fitting undetectably under her pant leg. The siblings' personal doctor had done the small surgery for her. Fiona knew she could trust him not to go public with the news.

She searched the satellite images relentlessly for a month and a half before she began to get the icky feeling in the pit of her stomach. People would gently bring it up, that maybe it was time to stop searching so much. She would give them a cold stare and the person making the suggestion would trail off and close their mouth, at which point Fiona would walk away without a word.

Even Obadiah, one day almost three months after Fiona returned home, came down into the lab.

"Fiona...it's been two months. I know you don't want to hear this...but the chances that you'll find Tony are getting smaller every day. Maybe it's time to start thinking about how you're going to run the company in a few years."

"No." Fiona didn't turn around. "Obie, he's the only family I have. I'm not going to give up on him." There was a pause before Obadiah's footstep retreated and the door opened and shut. Once he was gone, Fiona let her head sink to the desk.

"They're right, Tony," she mumbled. "Where are you?" She sighed, and the next breath turned into a hitched sob.

Fiona's life abruptly turned around the next day. She was searching a zoomed-out satellite feed when a tiny burst of orange caught her eye. She zoomed in on the orange, which turned out to be an explosion, and saw something rising out of the flames. Not a missile, something different. The overhead view that the satellite provided didn't give a very good idea what it was, but she followed it away from the site of the flames. It flew through the desert for a while before crashing into the sand. She could now see that it was a metal suit, vaguely human-shaped. Her pulse began climbing, though she didn't know why, as the metal suit flailed its arms around a bit, banging them on the ground. The arms fell off, exposing very human arms underneath. The person inside grappled with the mask for a moment before finally succeeding in removing it. Fiona let out a strangled cry, standing up with such force that she sent her chair rolling backwards.

The face behind the mask, albeit bloody and disoriented, was Tony's. Fiona frantically searched her pockets and the surrounding area for her phone, finally snatching it off the desk behind her and dialing as fast as she could.  
"This is Fiona Stark, I need to speak to Colonel Rhodes. It's an emergency. Please!" There was a brief pause

"Hello? Fiona? What's-"

"Rhodey, I found Tony!" Silence on the other end. Fiona could hear footsteps increasing in tempo.

"What? How did- where?"

"I'm sending you the coordinates. He- he built some sort of flying armor- type thing and he crashed in the desert. He looks pretty beat up."

"All right, we're on our way." Rhodey hung up and Fiona sank to the ground.

_Tony was alive_.

The next few days were almost more torturous than the months of searching. Rhodey called and let Fiona know that they had found Tony and he would be on his way home after medical treatment and some assorted standard debriefing procedures. When the day finally arrived, Fiona was waiting with Obadiah at Stark Industries. They watched the limo pull in along the long driveway, coming to a halt in front of the crowd of reporters. The door opened _and there was Tony_. Fiona left Obie's side like a racehorse out of the gate, dashing towards her brother. He saw her as she approached and his expression changed into one of utter relief and joy as he held out his arms to catch her. The siblings crashed together, pulling one another into a tight embrace. Fiona was crying into Tony's shoulder as he pressed his cheek to the top of her head and stroked her hair.

"They said they left you in the desert, Fi," he said softly, calling her by his special pet name. "I didn't think...I thought you must be dead."

"People said the same about you," Fiona replied, not letting go of her brother. "I didn't want to believe it but I was starting to...to think...you know..." The siblings stayed locked in an embrace for at least three or four minutes. No words were spoken. None were needed. Finally, they separated. As they did, Fiona's shoulder brushed Tony's chest and she felt something hard. She gave him a questioning look but he gave her one back that said _not now_. She stepped back slightly- only slightly- as Obadiah came up to the duo.

"We were supposed to meet at the hospital," he said, slightly accusingly.  
"No, I'm fine." Tony dismissed, before he began heading inside. Fiona followed close behind, Pepper and Obadiah behind her. Tony had apparently wanted a press conference as he split off from the group and headed for the "prep room" as they called it. Pepper and Fiona were about to follow him but a man stopped them.

"Excuse me, Miss Stark, Miss Potts? Can I speak to you for a minute?"  
"Um, we're not part of the press conference, it's starting in there soon if you'd like to join it." Fiona pointed to the room where they held all of the press conferences and interviews and the like. The man smiled.  
"I'm not a reporter," he said. "I'm Agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division." Pepper cocked a brow.

"That's quite a mouthful," she said. The agent smirked.

"We're working on it."

"I don't want to seem rude, but we have already been approached by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA..." Fiona said, trailing off pointedly, but Agent Coulson just nodded slightly.

"We're a separate division with a more specific focus. I need to debrief your brother about the circumstances of his escape."

"I'll put something in the book, shall I?" Pepper said, in secretary mode.

"Thank you." Coulson left, and Fiona and Pepper entered the press room in the back just as Tony came up to the podium, then walked around in front of it.

"Hey, would it be alright if everyone sat down?" he asked suddenly, sinking slowly to sit in front of the podium. "Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me and I can...a little less formal...and..." The reporters all slowly sat down, thoroughly confused, as were Fiona and Pepper. Rhodey joined them as the reporters got settled.

"What's up with the love-in?" he asked. Fiona shrugged.

"No clue. He seems different. I mean...anyone would be changed after three months of...I don't even know what went on over there." Up at the podium- or in front of it- Tony was speaking.

"I never got to say goodbye to Dad. I never got to say goodbye to my father. There's questions that I would have asked him I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted…if he ever had doubts…Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels…" Fiona winced slightly. She knew that Tony had not always had a good relationship with their father. Tony had been shipped off to boarding school for part of his childhood. Fiona was glad that Tony elected not to do that. "I saw young Americans killed…by the very weapons I created to defend them, and protect them…And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability…" Tony sounded funny, like he was straining slightly as he spoke. Fiona left Pepper and Rhodey and began moving towards the front of the room along the wall.

"Mr. Stark?" said a man loudly. Tony glanced his way.

"Hey, Ben," he replied.

"What happened over there?" Tony was quiet, seeming to pick his words.  
"I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world, then just making things that blow up..." Fiona was almost at the stage. "And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down-" Fiona stopped in her tracks as Tony rose, trying to continue talking over the roar of the journalists. "-the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be, what direction it should take, one that that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good, for this country as well." Obadiah gently pushed Tony out of the way and Tony walked towards the door, no regret showing on his face. Fiona raced after him, catching up with him as he crossed the blacktop to the building that housed the arc reactor. She said nothing, waiting for Tony to explain.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked as he pulled open the door. Fiona laughed.

"Tony...you are impossible sometimes! I'm not mad...Obie looked pretty pissed though." The pair stood at the railing in front of the arc reactor. The door flew open behind them. They turned simultaneously to find Obadiah glaring at Tony.

"Well, that...that went well," he said, the tone in his voice implying that the precisely the opposite was true.

"Did I just paint a target on the backs of our heads?" Tony asked. Obadiah was pacing back and forth.

"Your head? What about my head? What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is going to be tomorrow?"

"Optimistically, forty points," Tony replied.

"I'm going sixty," said Fiona. Tony shot her a look. "Hey, I'm being realistic here." Obadiah crossed his arms.

"Tony, we're a weapons manufacturer."

"Obie, I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy," Tony replied. Fiona raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

"That's what we do. We're ironmongers. We make weapons!" Obadiah stressed the last few words, but Tony was getting that defiant expression on his face, where his eyes hardened and his lips compressed.

"It's my name on the side of the building," he said.

"And what we do keeps the world from falling into chaos!" Obadiah argued.

"Not based on what I saw," Tony retorted.

"What do you mean?" Fiona interjected.

"We're not doing a good enough job- we can do better...we're gonna do something else."

"Like what?" Fiona asked, her interest sparked. Tony hesitated.

"...I think we should take another look into arc reactor technology." Obie made an exasperated face.

"Come on! The arc reactor? That's a publicity stunt! Tony...come on, we built that thing to shut the hippies up!"

"It works," the sibling retorted in unison.

"Yeah, as a science project!" said Obie exasperatedly. "The arc was never cost effective. WE knew that before we built it. Arc reactor technology...that's a dead end, right?"

"Maybe," said Tony. Obadiah scowled and continued his pacing.

"Am I right? I mean we haven't had a breakthrough in what?"

"Thirty years," said Tony, though it seemed to Fiona as though he knew that what he was saying was wrong.

"That's what they say," said Obadiah, his gaze dropping to Tony's chest, the same spot where Fiona had bumped something hard, the same spot where she could see a faint blue glow...

"Tony, what is that?" she asked.

"Who told you, Obie?" Tony asked. "You have such a lousy poker face."

"Never mind who told me, just show me."

"Wait, guys, what are we showing? I'm confused and beginning to freak out a little..." Fiona said, but neither of the men seemed to hear her.

"Rhodey or Pepper?" Tony continued his interrogation.

"Fine, it was Rhodey. Okay?"

"Okay." Without warning, Tony pulled the top buttons of his shirt open. Fiona's hand flew to her mouth as she let out a stifled cry.

"Oh my god...Tony, what happened?"

"It. Works." Tony said flatly. Obadiah looked at him for a moment, meeting his eyes once again.

"Listen to me, Tony. We're a team. Do you understand? There's nothing we can't do, if we stick together, like your father and I…I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up, okay?"

"But if I had..." Tony began.

"Tony. Tony. No more of this ready-aim-fire business, you understand me?"

"That was Dad's line," Fiona mumbled.

"You gotta let me handle this. We're gonna have to play a whole different kind of ball now. We're going to have to take a lot of heat…I want you to promise me that you're going to lay low." Tony nodded, after a moment. "Both of you," added Obadiah.

"But- but I didn't-" Fiona sputtered, her words quelled by the look on Obie's face. "Fine." Obie left the arc building, heading back towards the main building of the complex. Tony made to leave as well, but Fiona put a hand on his arm.

"Tony, what is that?"

"It's a miniaturized arc reactor." Fiona sighed.

"Yes. So I gathered. Why is that miniaturized arc reactor in your chest and how did it get there?" Tony looked down at the glowing blue circle.

"The explosion? It put some shrapnel in my chest and it got pretty close to my heart. This little thing is powering a magnet that keeps the shrapnel away."

"What if it...you know, stops working?" Fiona asked hesitantly.

"It won't," replied her brother.

"But-"

"Hey. Hey." Tony put his hands on her shoulders. "When has anything I've made not worked the way it was supposed to? That was rhetorical," he added as Fiona opened her mouth. "Can we move on? Are you okay? I mean...did you get hurt in the explosion at all?"

"I...not really...I'm fine." Tony gave her a look. "A little shrapnel in the leg. Really, it's fine, they got it out and..." The look continued. "Fine. Tore a ligament and a nerve. Probably won't get full function back and the brace they gave me was annoying so I built this." She pulled up the hem of her pant leg to reveal the brace she had created.

"What's the circle do?"

"Slight electric current. Connects the damaged nerves, helps them function." Tony ruffled her hair.

"That's my girl. Now listen to me. I'm home. Everything's gonna be okay." Tony hugged her. "I promise."

* * *

**Yay! Sibling fluff...I've been wanting to write the homecoming scene since I started, did I do a good job with it? As always, if you liked what you read, please leave a review! And if you want to put in a request or an idea, go ahead! I will try and accommodate everyone's ideas!**

**Until next update,**

**-Ophelia**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry! I feel really bad for giving you guys such a long wait. Especially because this chapter is kind of a filler. Maybe that's why it was harder to write...I don't know. School's been really busy, lots of essays...anyways, here's the chapter, I hope it's okay!**

* * *

The day after the disastrous press conference, Fiona was in her room surfing the internet and scanning the news sites. All the headlines screamed about the weapons shutdown. Some were objective, others just downright nasty. She sighed, lacing her fingers together and leaning her chin on the small platform she had created by doing so.

"Tony, why are you so impulsive..." Her phone buzzed. She picked it up and read the message displayed on the transparent screen.  
_How big are your hands?_ It was from Tony. Her brow furrowed. She began typing a response but another message popped up as she typed. _Come down to the lab._ Fiona shook her head, set her phone down and left her room.

She typed in her lab password and the door opened. Tony was reclining, shirtless, on a chair like you'd see in a dentist's office. Several electrodes were attached to his chest, and a screen behind him displayed vital signs. One of his robots, Dummy, was rolling around near the chair. Fiona's eyes were drawn to the bright blue-white circle in the center of his chest. It was weird and somewhat unnatural, but it was kind of beautiful, in its own way. She raised her eyebrows. Admittedly, it was not the strangest thing she had seen Tony doing.

"Do you need something?" she asked

"Hold up your hands," Tony said. Her brother's sanity beginning to fall into question, she held up her hands. He nodded, taking something from the table next to him- another mini-reactor, different than the one in his chest. It was less bulky, newer looking.

"I thought I'd ask Pepper, but your hands are even smaller."

"Tony, I don't know if I like where this is going. What's with the second reactor? What's wrong with the one you have?"

"It's an antique, I'm updating it." Fiona shook her head.

"I'm still not seeing where I come into this..."

"Well, I would have done it myself but I ran into a little...speed bump," Tony said.

"Go on...

"There's an exposed wire under the device, it's contacting the socket wall and causing a bit of a short." He twisted the device, pulling it out slightly. Fiona's hand shot out, covering her brother's, preventing him from pulling the reactor out any further.

"I really don't think I should be helping you with this, I'm- I'm not a doctor, I wasn't even a bio major. Maybe we should just call Dr. Langdon-" Tony stopped her.

"No. This isn't public. You can do this, Fi. It'll be easy." Fiona sighed, but kept her hand on the reactor.

"Okay. But you have to tell me what I'm doing before I do anything." Tony smiled and lifted his hand from the reactor.

"All right. After I take out the reactor, I need you to reach in and grab hold of the exposed wire. Get the end of it out here so we can work with it, okay?" Fiona swallowed and nodded. Tony lifted the reactor from the socket and handed it to Fiona. "Put it on the table." Fiona quickly set it down and turned back to Tony. "Now get the wire. Don't let it touch the sides of the socket." Fiona tentatively reached into the socket. She grimaced at the wetness she felt inside but kept feeling around for the wire.

"Got it," she breathed, carefully drawing it back up out of the hole. Tony smiled. Dummy was circling faster, making nervous beeping sounds.

"That wasn't so bad, was it? Now-" One of Dummy's frantic circles connected with Fiona's legs. She stumbled sideways, the wire still in her hand. It- and the circular magnet on the end- lurched from the socket with a wet _schlick_. Tony gasped and the monitors began beeping faster. "Okay- not part of the plan- put this one in-" Tony voice was strained. Fiona forced herself to remain calm as she took the end of the wiring in one hand and reached back into the hole, fingers finding the small connection port that she had felt the first time. She attached the wiring, pulled her hand out and twisted the reactor into place. Tony shut his eyes, breathing heavily. Slowly, the monitors lost the red readouts and the beeping slowed down.

"Could have gone worse," Tony said after a moment, pulling the electrodes off of his chest and sitting up. The tension broke and Fiona began to laugh. She was crying a little bit too, and Tony wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. "Hey, shh, it's okay. We did it. I'm still alive. You did great. We're a team." He glanced down at Dummy. "And you have been demoted to fire extinguishing duties for the next month." Dummy's "head" drooped sadly. Fiona giggled and began walking towards the lab door.

"No more near-death experiences, please," she said over her shoulder. Tony was pulling a shirt over his head.

"Yeah, I'll try," he replied. Fiona passed the table on which the old arc reactor sat and she picked it up.

"What should I do with this?" she asked. Tony didn't hesitate before answering.

"Destroy it," he said firmly.

"Are you sure-"

"Fiona, you've known me for eighteen years. Am I a nostalgic person?" Fiona shrugged and left the lab. She had no plans to destroy it, though. Tony might not think he was nostalgic, but Fiona was convinced otherwise.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

That night, Fiona had a nightmare. For some reason, there had been none in the three months that Tony had been missing, but the first one about the experience was horrible. She was back in the middle of the firefight in Afghanistan, tumbling out of the jeep after Tony. The missile landed in the dirt next to them. The siblings were thrown backwards- and that's when the dream turned from a memory to a nightmare. She watched as scarlet began spreading across Tony's shirt. He was gasping and shuddering- then went still. Fiona was shaking him, screaming his name, blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth and he wasn't moving and she was trying to wake up and her body wouldn't let her...

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

_"Sir, your sister appears ill. Her breathing and heart rates are elevated."_ Tony looked up from the new armor he was designing.

"Thanks, J. I'll go check on her." Tony minimized the plans with a pinch of his fingers and left the lab.

He pushed open the door to his sister's room. Moonlight spilled through the window, illuminating his sister who was curled up, taking hitched breaths through her nose and whimpering with each breath out. Suddenly Tony was 21 again, comforting his baby sister. Tony hurried to the side of her bed and placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. She jerked awake with a cry, tears threatening to spill over her lower lashes. She seemed disoriented, breathing rapidly, until her eyes found Tony's and she threw her arms around him. Tony gave her a gentle hug, making little shushing noises until she stopped trembling and let go of him.

"Sorry," she mumbled. She wiped the tear tracks off her cheeks with the back of her hand and hugged her knees to her chest. "I'm okay now." Fiona doubted she would be able to go back to sleep and Tony seemed to know it as well.

"Come down to the lab with me, I wanna show you something." Fiona tugged on the shorts and oversized t-shirt she wore to bed, straightening them, and followed her brother back to the lab. Once inside, Tony sat down at his workstation and pulled up a project. Fiona cocked her head as she stared at it.

"Is that thing that you built to free yourself?" Tony nodded.

"Well, yes and no." As he talked, he expanded the project on the hologram and started pulling out parts, dropping them into a holographic trash can.

"And...you're remaking it?" Tony nodded. "Any particular reason?" Tony tossed a piece of the armor into the trash can and sat still for a moment.

"When I was...over there...I saw some things that I sorta wish I hadn't seen. But in a way, I'm glad I did." Fiona began to ask for clarification, but Tony kept going. "Fiona, people died because of our weapons. I almost died because of our weapons. That's why I don't want to keep making them. The people that had me...they had tons of our stuff. I destroyed it but some of those bastards got away. Who knows how much more they have somewhere else? I want to make sure that they are ended. Permanently." Tony had a weird expression on his face, like a cross between determination...and regret? Fiona leaned a little closer and spun the dismantled armor around with a flick of her finger

"Then let's get started.

The siblings planned and charted and designed and built all night. The first thing they built were pairs of metal boots. Dummy tried to help quite a bit- he seemed very apologetic about the incident he had caused earlier. The next morning, the siblings were ready to test the boots. They clanked out onto a large square platform. Since Fiona didn't have an arc reactor, she had built a larger version of the kinetics device powering her brace. Tony had the robots manning the camera and fire extinguisher- although Fiona suspected that Tony was just trying to keep Dummy occupied.  
"You, roll it. We're gonna start off nice and easy, see if ten percent thrust capacity achieves lift."

"You call ten percent starting off small? I'm going with two percent." Tony shrugged.

"Suit yourself." The two stood a good distance apart. "And three...two...one." Tony shot off the platform, smacking into a wall above them. Fiona was wobbling a foot or so off the ground, but she burst out laughing and fell back to the platform, stumbling and sitting down, continuing to laugh. Dummy doused the spot where Tony had landed with white foam. Tony clambered up from the floor, a bruise beginning to form on his forehead. He spat out some foam and glared at Fiona.

"I won't say...actually...I will...I told you..." she gasped around her laughter, wiping a tear off of her cheek.

"Whatever," Tony muttered. "I think we're gonna need flight stabilizers or something..." He reached down and triggered the release on his boots, stepping out of them. Fiona, laughter subsiding, did the same, and she followed him back over to one of the workstations

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Pepper found the two siblings in the lab later that day, working on a device strapped to Tony's arm. Fiona was working with some wires on his palm while Tony was fiddling with a part on his forearm. Fiona looked up first, hearing Pepper's heels tapping on the floor.

"Hey, Pepper, what's going...what's wrong?" she asked as she noticed Pepper's slightly disapproving frown

"Obadiah's back, I've been buzzing you. Didn't you hear the intercom?"

"Uh..." The siblings glanced at each other before shaking their heads. Pepper sighed

"Are you coming up?"  
"In a minute," Tony said distractedly. Fiona finished soldering two wires together and sat back

"My end's done," she said

"What's that? I though you guys were done making weapons," Pepper asked.

"First, only Tony said that, but I have to go along with it, and second, it's not a weapon, it's a flight stabilizer," Fiona explained. "It should be pretty harmless." Tony was finished with his end of the stabilizer and lifted his arm to test it. The circle on the palm glowed briefly before a blast of energy exploded from the end of it, tossing things off of the desk and sending Tony flying backwards into the wall. Pepper had clapped her hands over her ears and seemed to be in shock. Fiona was choking with suppressed laughter as she set her tools down and followed Pepper back upstairs. She heard a series of clattering noises before Tony came after them. Fiona picked up the aroma of cheese and spices as they approached the top of the stairs

"Hey, pizza!" she cried, making for the box and taking a slice. Obie was playing the piano that sat off to the side.

"How'd it go?" Tony asked as he came up the stairs. Obie didn't respond, turning away slightly. Fiona winced.

"He brought pizza from New York, Tony. I'd say not good."

"Just because I brought pizza doesn't mean-"

"Sure it doesn't. Oh, boy," said Tony, grabbing a slice of pizza.

"It would've gone better if you were there-"

"Yeah, well, we were 'laying low,'" Fiona cut in.  
"I meant in public, the press. This was a board of directors meeting, guys." Fiona felt somewhat guilty.

"Oh...really?"

"The board is claiming you both have some sort of post-traumatic stress," said Obadiah.

"That's ridiculous," said Tony, though Fiona caught the glance that came her way and the slight coloration of Tony's cheeks.

"Well, ridiculous or not, the board is filing an injunction."

"A what now?"

"They want to lock you out, guys." Fiona and Tony both began protesting.

"They can't do that-"

"It's our company-" Obadiah raised his hands.

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. Guys, the stocks dipped fifty-six and a half points. The board has rights too, and they don't think you and your new direction are in the company's best interest." Tony sighed and stood up. For a moment, his shirt was pulled tight against his chest, strengthening the blue glow of the arc reactor. Tony made for the stairs.

"Hey, hey, Tony, listen! I'm trying to turn this thing around but you gotta give me something. Something to pitch them. Let me have the engineers analyze that, you know, draw up some specs. He nodded at the blue glow. Tony's expression hardened.

"No. No. Absolutely not."

"It'll give me a bone to throw to the guys in New York!" pleaded Obie.

"This one stays with me. That's it, Obie. Forget it." Obadiah turned to Fiona, and she new what was coming.

"Sorry, Obie. The stuff we've got right now...the world isn't ready for that kind of tech just yet." Obie scowled.

"Fine. Then this stays with me," he said, scooping up the pizza box. He offered it to Tony and Fiona as they began heading back down to the lab. They each took another slice. "You mind if I come down there and see what you're working on?"

"'Night, Obie!" Fiona called as she descended.

* * *

**So, yeah, filler chapter...the next few should be way more fun to write, with the first flight and the benefit party thing. I'll try and get the next chapter out faster- I'm alternating updates with this story and my other ongoing one. The good thing is I'm at an exciting or fun part to write in both, so update should hopefully be faster. Review?**

**Ooh, by the way, has anyone seen Thor 2 yet? Tonight is the midnight premiere in my country and I'm going to see it this weekend! (So no spoilers!)**

**Until next time,**

**Ophelia**


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